Posts tagged Tarvaris Jackson

From Hasselbeck to Jackson, now Wilson

After the Seattle Seahawks signed Matt Flynn this off season, one of my readers (Todd) asked me if I would compare Flynn’s first 8 games as a starter to that of Matt Hasselbeck’s and Tarvaris Jackson’s. He wanted to see how the new quarterback stacked up to those two, since they were the most recent Seahawksstarters.

I agreed to write it if he would remind me after the 8th game of the season.

All three quarterbacks became starters in vastly different ways. Matt Hasselbeck spent his first two seasons backing up future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre before being acquired by Seattle, via trade. Matt was named the starting quarterback of the 2001 Seattle Seahawks.

Tarvaris Jackson started for the first time on week 16, the Vikings 15th game of the season, after spending most of the season backing up Brad Johnson.

Russell Wilson was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2012 draft by the Seattle Seahawks. Most people, including myself, expected Wilson to spend his first season backing up Matt Flynn, unless Flynn fell flat on his face, or was injured.

Instead, Wilson won the job in training camp. Flynn didn’t lose it. RW did enough to impress Pete Carrolland beat out Flynn to become the starter at the beginning of the season.

Start 1

Matt beat the 10th best passing defense, Tarvaris lost to the leagues 17th ranked passing defense, and Russell lost to the leagues 4th best passing defense.

Russell Wilson was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2012 draft

Jackson had the roughest outing, managing only 50 yard on 20 pass attempts. Ironically, Hasselbeck and Wilson each had 34 attempts in their 1st game. Matt had two more completions for 15 more yards but unlike Russell, he was unable to find the end zone.

Wilson>Hasselbeck>Jackson

Start 2

All three quarterbacks faced top 10 defenses in their second start. Russell Wilson was the only one of the three who was victorious.

Jackson’s 213-yards were the only time he surpassed the 200-yards mark during his first 8 starts.

It was Matt Hasselbeck’s worst game in his first 8 starts.

Russell Wilson didn’t do anything spectacular. He just played extremely efficient football, completing 75% of his passes and ending up with a 112.7 passer rating.

Wilson>Jackson>Hasselbeck

Start 3

For the third straight week Matt Hasselbeck faced a top 10 passing defense, but Jackson and Wilson got a bit of a break. Tarvaris faced the 23rd ranked Falcons while Russell faced the 19th ranked Packers.

Hasselbeck was the only quarterback to lose his third start, but he did throw for the most yards. Matt injured his groin during the game and was replaced by Trent Dilfer for the next 2 games.

Seahawks quarterback player grades

Russell Wilson #3

This week I had so much to say about Russell Wilson’s performance that I wrote an entire piece on it. You can read why I gave him the grade I did here.

the grade: A+

Matt Flynn #15

Matt Flynn. Photo by Brett Bivens

the good:

If you look at the stats, Matt Flynn’s day looked terrible, stats can be very misleading. To be honest, while I was watching the game, I didn’t realize how well Matt Flynn played. It wasn’t until I broke down the game that I was able to grasp it.

Matt does not get the credit he deserves for his mobility. Its tough to be recognized when you are on the same team with guys like Tarvaris Jackson, Josh Portis and Russell Wilson. (All known for their ability to run.) Watching practice I noticed Flynn has quicker feet than Tarvaris. He may not take off and run like the other three quarterbacks do, but he is able to slide around the pocket or scramble to turn a negative play into a positive. I would like to see him look more down field a little longer before he tucks the ball when he’s forced up in the pocket.

All week I have heard people questioning Matt Flynn’s ability to throw the deep ball. Don’t confuse the ability to recognize what a defense is giving you and taking advantage of it with a deficiency. Against the Titans the short passing game was left open and he used precision passing to pick them apart. Denver played a tighter defense, allowing Flynn to open it up a bit and show off his arm. He delivered a dead strike, 49 yards in the air, to Terrell Owens who flat out dropped the would-be touchdown. Flynn should have had another touchdown later in the half when he hit Golden Tate in the end zone, but the combination of a great defense play by the cornerback and an inability to come down in bounds by Golden took those 6 points off the board.

the bad:

There were a couple deep throws that Matt Flynn let sail on him. These could be a product of the thin air in Denver or not having enough time with his receivers, maybe a little bit of both. His timing with Terrell Owens was terrible at best. I’m not sure Flynn and Owens were in the same playbook, let alone on the same page. I would like to see Matt try to force the ball into coverage a little less often. Sometimes punting is the best game plan.

the grade: b+

Josh Portis #2

Josh Portis saw his first action of the preseason in Denver. Late in the game Josh showed his ability to scramble for a first down with under two minutes left in the game. Portis needs to recognize his situation and avoid running out of bounds while the team is trying to run out the clock. Quarterbacks can avoid being hit by sliding feet first.

the grade: C-

Seahawks quarterback grades

Russell Wilson #3

The Good:

Russell Wilson showed an ability to read/feel pressure and avoid it while continuing to look down the field for someone to throw to. He has enough confidence in his receiver to throw the ball 45 yards in the air and allow them to make a play (Touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards). Russell showed a lot of poise for a rookie and the play that impressed me the most was when he rolled out to avoid pressure but when he saw that no one open he threw the ball out of bounds to avoid a sack or an interception. I was also impressed when he rolled right (again avoiding pressure) and hit Charly Martin over the middle.

Running the ball is a large part of what the Seahawks do on offense and Wilson excelled in that category. He did a nice job on draw plays continuing to sell the draw after he has handed the ball off. When Russell Wilson has the ball in his hands he runs like a running back and does a nice job directing his blockers as well as reading their blocks, yet he is smart enough to slide to avoid big hits.

The Bad:

Wilson appears to struggle to hit his running backs in the flat a little bit. He had one pass tipped that was intended for Kregg Lumpkin because he didn’t get enough air under the ball and another pass where he threw it behind his target instead of leading him. That is all a little nit picky for a 3rd round rookie quarterback but the only major, and I do mean major, mistake was his interception. Russell had made his decision where he was going with the ball before the snap ever took place. The linebacker was with his tight end up the seam step for step yet he threw the ball straight to the defender in the end zone. Giving away points is not acceptable and I’m sure he has been shown his mistake, lets see if he makes it again or learns from it.

The Grade: B

Matt Flynn and Russell Wilson warm up shortly before the game. Photo by Brett Bivens

Matt Flynn #15

The Good:

Matt Flynn showed outstanding accuracy in the first half of Saturdays win over the Titans. Other than the pass to Robert Turbin in the middle of the field all of his passes were on target. He is in a different offense in Seattle than he was Green Bay (they are similar however) but showed he has a pretty good handle on where his outlets are if he needs to dump the ball off to avoid pressure. Matt is quick to find his receivers and make the decision to throw the ball to them or not, much quicker than Tarvaris Jackson (not that it’s saying much). I was impressed watching him go through his progressions like an NFL starting quarterback should.

The Bad:

Flynn is inconsistent with his play action fakes, at times he really sells it and other times it’s easy to tell what he’s doing before the fake ever happens, like on his interception. On that play there was a mix up and the fake was to one side while Robert Turbin was on the other but regardless of that the attempt was not fooling anyone because it was a lazy attempt and it very easy to read that it was a play action pass which allowed the linebacker to drop back into coverage and pick off the pass. I’m not sure what happened on the fumbled shotgun snap but it looked to me like Matt Flynn was not ready for it. The rest of the team looked ready but not him on that play, luckily he was able to recover the ball. He needs to learn that when he’s rolling out away from pressure and no one is open downfield he can throw the ball away and avoid taking a sack or throwing into coverage.

Seahawks Player Grades

Quarterback

Tarvaris Jackson (B)

Last week D

THE GOOD:

Jackson did a nice job staying strong in the pocket and finding open receives with pressure in his face. He was also doing a good job going through his progressions to find an open target. Tarvaris used his feet to avoid pressure including on the 50 yard pass to Doug Baldwin. You may remember last week I knocked him on his first interception when he improperly threw it away into the line and it got tipped up and intercepted, well this week he correctly threw the same pass at the feet of the running back.On 4th and 1 he did a good job finding a small crease on the quarterback sneak.

THE BAD:

At times he struggled with his accuracy and just missed throwing three touchdown. One of them was to Zach Miller and two of them were to Sidney Rice.

Running Back

1) Marshawn Lynch (A)

Last week A+

THE GOOD:

Marshawn was running hard every play keeping his legs driving or breaking tackles to pick up extra yards. He had 100+ yards for the second week in a row (the first time he has accomplished this in his NFL career) and led the team with 58 yards receiving. He had a sick juke move to pick up a first down that left Ray Lewis and Jarret Johnson in a pile wondering where he went. He was also able to pick up a blitz or two on his free time.

THE BAD:

On 3rd down he was close to the marker as he went out of bounds and he didn’t reach the ball in front of him and if he did he would have had a first for sure. One play he had an opening for a couple yards but he tried to break a big play and ended up losing yards because or it. He missed a blitz pick up.

2) Michael Robinson (B)

Last week C+

THE GOOD:

He owned Ray Lewis all game including on the Lynch touchdown and even pancaked him on another play. It was by far his best performance as a Seahawk.

THE BAD:

On one of his blocks on Ray he hit him but didn’t stick with the block and he missed a tackle covering a punt.

Seahawks Player Grades

Quarterback

Tarvaris Jackson (D)

Last week C

THE GOOD:

Jackson was getting the ball out of his hand pretty quickly most of the game. He was showing an ability to anticipate where his receivers where going to be so his passes were on time. He extended a few plays with his feet using his mobility to buy extra time to find an open receiver.

THE BAD:

A couple times he led the receivers out of bounds with his throws giving them no chance to make a play. He made some very poor decisions including all three of his interception but there where others as well. At times he tried to get the ball out of his hand before he needed to and before he found a target that was open.

Running Back

1) Marshawn Lynch (A+)

Last week C+

THE GOOD:

Marshawn was bringing beast mode all day breaking tackles and fighting for extra yards. He was turning losses into gains and short gains into big runs. He scored a touchdown had 135 yards (the first time he has broke 100 yards in a regular season game for Seattle) and averaged 5.9 yards per carry.

THE BAD:

He miss read a block and cut to the inside when the block was set up for him to cut it outside.

2) Justin Forsett, Leon Washington and Michael Robinson (C+)

Last week: Justin and Leon had C+’s and Michael had a D-

THE GOOD:

Forsett did a nice job picking up the blitz. Washington had a couple nice runs including one where he got skinny to slip through a very small hole. Robinson had a critical block on Marshawns touchdown.

Seahawks Player Grades

Offensive Line

1) Russell Okung, Robert Gallery and Max Unger (B-)

Robert Gallery blocks two Bengals on a Marshawn Lynch run.

Last week: Russell B, Robert F+ and Max C-

THE GOOD:

Okung had some solid blocks in the running game including getting to the second level. He also did a solid job protecting Jackson’s blind side all day. Gallery did a nice job sealing running lanes. On one running play he pushed the defender 8 yards down the field and on one of Marshawn Lynch’s big runs he had a nice block at the second level. He bought Tarvaris Jackson extra time with a nice cut block to stop the backside pursuit as Jackson scrambled on one play. Unger made some outstanding blocks in the running games including a key block that sprung Lynch on a big run. He also showed his athleticism on a play where Gallery fell down and he dove over him to block Demarcus Ware and avoid the sack.

THE BAD:

Russell fell down on a run block and missed two blocks in the running game that led to tackles for a loss. Robert had trouble staying on his feet. He was knocked down from a bull rush by Ware on a pass block and he was also knocked down twice while run blocking including one time when he pulled the defender down with him and was called for the hold. Speaking of penalties, he was also called for a false start that killed a drive. Gallery was unable to get out to a pass block on one of Jackson interceptions and it led to a quarterback hit. Max was inconsistent run blocking and at times was pushed around. He also missed a pass block that led to a quarterback hit.

4) James Carpenter (C)

Last week D

5) John Moffitt (D)

Last week he got the worst possible grade F-

THE GOOD:

John manhandled a defender and pushed him out of a running lane and had a nice backside cut block.

THE BAD:

He struggled blocking in both the running and passing game. He was called for a holding penalty, got the quarterback hit on an interception and he gave up a sack.

6) Clint Gresham D+

Usually I don’t have a grade for the long snapper but because he made no effort to block on the field goal where the guy jumped over him I figured he deserved to be called out.

Seahawks Quarterback Player Grades

1) Charlie Whitehurst (B+)

Charlie Whitehurst during the 2011 Pre-Season at home against the Vikings

This was his first action this year.

THE GOOD:

Charlie had several really well placed passes. One was the quick slant to Sidney Rice and another one was the touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin. He did a good job avoiding sacks either by using his legs to buy time or throwing the ball away. His decision making was quick which allowed him to plant his back foot and throw the ball.

THE BAD:

On one play he didn’t recognize a blitz and took a big hit from his blind side. One of the passes where he threw the ball away he had locked onto a receiver and didn’t go through his progressions. If he had he gone through them he would have seen that Anthony McCoy was open underneath.

2) Tarvaris Jackson (C+)

Last week A-

THE GOOD:

He did a good job leading his receivers to give them a chance to catch the ball in stride. Tarvaris had a few passes where he didn’t have much of a window and had excellent ball placement. Jackson was doing a pretty good job going through his progressions and had a touchdown pass.

THE BAD:

Two straight passes he threw into double coverage the second of which Zach Miller got hurt from a hit to his head. New York Giants Safety Kenny Phillis was fined $20,000 for the hit on Miller. He floated a ball and made a poor decision on another to throw a ball to the outside that had little chance of going well. That ball was intercepted.

Seahawks Quarterback and Running Back Grades

Quarterback

Tarvaris Jackson (A-)

Last week C+

THE GOOD:

Even during the first half of Sundays’s game he was doing a good job going through his progressions and usually found his open targets. You could see he was comfortable with the offense for the first time this season and he was doing things that we hadn’t seen from him before. He was using his pump fake and his eyes to look off defenders and he was throwing to guys who weren’t wide open but open enough. He was comfortable using his legs to move around in the pocket without tucking the ball and running at the first sign of pressure. Jackson had better timing with his receivers and spread the ball around throwing the ball four or more times to seven different receivers. He really showed awareness on the 52-yard touchdown to Sidney Rice when he noticed the free play and aired the ball out for the long touchdown. When he did scramble he usually had no other choice. Last but not least he threw for a career high 329 yards and he also threw 3 touchdowns.

THE BAD:

Tarvaris still struggles with his accuracy and on one play he threw the ball behind Mike Williams causing it to be tipped up and intercepted. Sometimes at the end of his drop he does an extra hop on his back foot that cause him to be late on timing routes.

Running Back

1) Leon Washington (B+)

Last week C+

THE GOOD:

When the team needed him most he had a good kick return and a big punt return where he where he took the ball down to the 11-yard line. He keeps his legs pumping making it hard for defenders to bring him down and he gained extra yards because of it. Leon showed his agility as he tip toed down the sidelines.

THE BAD:

Like Justing, Leon only carried the ball twice but unlike Forsett he was only targeted once as well.

2) Justin Forsett (B)

Last Week C+

THE GOOD:

He showed vision when his lane closed by noticing a cutback lane. He showed a lot of awareness in the two minute drill getting out of bounds to stop the clock and he showed concentration catching a ball that was tipped on the screen pass.

THE BAD:

Forsett only had 2 carries.

3) Marshawn Lynch (C+)

Last week B

THE GOOD:

As usual he ran tough and broke tackles. Marshawn showed patience waiting for his block to set up on the outside before trying to get up-field. He did a nice job picking up the blitz and had a touchdown that was more a credit to his blockers opening a huge running lane than his actual running.

THE BAD:

There were a couple times where he could have been a little more decisive and hit the hole faster. He dropped a very catch-able ball but the most concerning to me was his barrel roll after his touchdown. He landed fairly hard on his shoulder and the last thing the Seahawks need is an injury caused by stupidity.

4) Michael Robinson (C-)

He missed last week due to injury

THE GOOD:

He had two big blocks; one on a kick return and the other on Leon’s big punt return.

THE BAD:

Michael missed a tackle on punt coverage and ran into Leon when he called for a fair catch late in the game which could have led to disaster.

QB and RB Grades

Quarterback

Tarvaris Jackson (C+)

Tarvaris Jackson takes a sack. Photo by Brett Bivens

Last week D

THE GOOD:

Four times he had perfect ball placement a couple of which he put the ball where only his receiver could get it. The most notable was the 32 yard pass to Sidney Rice on the sideline where he dropped the ball into his outside shoulder and gave him a chance to make the play (late in the game he had another 20+ yard pass to Rice). Four times he either threw the ball away or got it out to a check-down quickly avoiding the sack. He played very well when he got outside of the pocket and scored the Seahawks only touchdown on a scramble. He continues to show toughness taking a pounding and getting up after every play.

THE BAD:

On five throws he was inaccurate including one that was almost intercepted. A couple of those his receivers bailed him out by making great catches. One play he threw the ball right into coverage and it should have been intercepted but the defensive back dropped it. Jackson took a sack because his primary target was covered when he had Mike Williams wide open. One of his sacks was because he felt some pressure panicked and ran right into the sack. This game was no different from the others in the sense that once he started scrambling he stopped looking down the field and missed receivers who were open. This time he had Zach Miller open for 15 yards but instead ran for 3. This offense is not so good that it can afford to leave yards on the table like that.

Running Back

1) Marshawn Lynch (B)

Last week he led the backs with a B-

THE GOOD:

Marshawn runs hard when he gets the ball. He usually gains yards after initial contact including one play where he broke three tackles to pick up and extra 15 yards. He showed good vision secondary hole on one run. When he wasn’t running through would-be tacklers he was juking them to make them miss.

THE BAD:

Lynch bobbled a pitch but was able to come up with it. He was a bit indecisive on weather to cut the ball inside or outside of a block and ran right into the fullback.

2) Eddie Williams (B-)

Last week D+

THE GOOD:

Eddie picked up a first down on 3rd and short even though the hole closed before he got there. He was able to lower his head and squeeze out enough room to get to the first down marker. On one play he lowered shoulders and met Patrick Peterson in the hole and drove him out of it and later had a pancake block.

THE BAD:

Williams missed a run block in the hole leaving the running back no where to go.

3) Justin Forsett and Leon Washington (C+)

Last week: Justing C+ and Leon C

THE GOOD:

Justin only carried the ball once but he ran hard and broke a tackle. He did a good job picking up the blitz and had a nice cut block while in pass pro. Leon had a run of over 20 yards and showcased some of his moves to make people miss on their tackle attempts. He did a good job in pass protection.

THE BAD:

Forsett had a chance to come up with a low thrown ball but he couldn’t do it. He had 1 carry and caught one ball for 1 total yard. Washington had trouble handling a kickoff and he dropped a pass he should have been able to catch it.

Seahawks Quarterback and Running Back grades

Quarterback

Tarvaris Jackson (D)

Last week F+

THE GOOD:

First of all, he is taking care of the football and had no turn overs for the game. He was able to accomplish this by throwing the ball away when nothing was open and stepping up to avoid pressure in the pocket. On multiple occasions he had great timing and the ball was out as the receiver made his break or as Jackson planted his back foot on his drop back. He showed poise on the play where he bobbled the snap in the shotgun and was able to gather the ball and find his check down to make a positive play when it could have been a lot different.

THE BAD:

When Tarvaris was scrambling the defense knew his tendency to give up on the passing play and just look to run the ball so they came up to stop him even though in doing so they left Anthony McCoy wide open in the middle of the field and they were right because he chose to run it for no gain. He pumped to Marshawn Lynch on a play when he was open but waited until he was covered to throw the ball to him. Jackson was not seeing the whole field and lacked anticipation of the blitz. When he did recognize the blitz he did adjust his protection but would not change his routes to give himself a place to get rid of the ball in a hurry. From the shotgun he miss handled two snaps which is unacceptable. He continued to stare down and lock on to his primary receiver at times. I counted three passes that he threw inaccurately on routes he needs to hit. Four times he was too late throwing the ball and the pass was incomplete because of it. On fourth down at the end of the game Zach Miller came open and might have been able to pick up the first down but instead of throwing to him Jackson danced around the pocket and got sacked. Under absolutely no circumstances can you take the sack right there. An interception doesn’t hurt you so if you have to force the ball you do.

Running Back

1) Marshawn Lynch (B-)

Marshawn Lynch taking a hand off from Charlie Whitehurst during the Giants game 2010

Last week B-

THE GOOD:

He had a good blitz pickup that saved a sack. Marshawn ran the ball tough breaking tackles and using his stiff arm.

THE BAD:

There was no room for him to run and he only had 6 carries and averaged 1.8 yards per carry. Today Coach Carroll admitted that Lynch has been playing but is not 100%.

2) Justin Forsett (C+)

Last week D+

THE GOOD:

Forsett was playing hard and his effort showed on a screen pass where he was lined up as a wide out and after he caught the screen he fought to pickup the first down. He was also able to get down and make a nice special teams tackle in punt coverage.

THE BAD:

Justin wasn’t seeing the running lanes as well as you would hope. On one play in particular he had a cut back lane big enough to run a truck through but chose to run straight into a pile of players instead. Late in the game he missed a blitz pickup.

3) Leon Washington (C)

Last week C

THE GOOD:

Leon was good in kick coverage and had a tackle inside the 20 yard line. After his only catch he made a quick move and was able to fight for the first down.

THE BAD:

Washington missed a blitz pickup and only had one carry for 2 yards.

4) Eddie Williams (D+)

Last week Eddie was on the Brown practice squad.

THE GOOD:

He broke a tackle on his pass reception that helped him pickup the first down.

THE BAD:

James Harrison thrown Eddie to the ground on a running play. He ran through the hole on one play and not only didn’t block anyone but he ran into James Carpenter and knocked him off his block. On another play he ran through the hole and ran right by the defender leaving his running back to be tackled.